Oscillating electric fan.



No. 810,174. PATBNTED JAN. 16, 1906. G. SITTMANN.

OSGILLATING ELBCTRIG PAN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1902.

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W Mtg M No. 810,174. PATBNTED JAN. 16, 1906.

- G. SITTMANN.

OSGILLATING ELECTRIC FAN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1902.

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No. 810,174. PATENTED JAN. 16, 190,6. G. SITTMANN.

OSOILLATING ELECTRIC FAN.

APPLICATION FILEDJUNE 11, 1902.

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w may UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

GUSTAV SITTMANN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. ASSIGNOR TO HERBERT STANLEY BROWN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

OSCILLATING ELECTRIC FAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed Tune 11, 1902. Serial No. 111,094.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV SITTMANN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, borough of Brooklyn, New

ber is pivoted at one side of the first-named pivot a support for an electric fan, and said support and member are provided with stops adapted to engage other stops or abutments, whereby the fan will be caused, through the medium of the back pressure of the air-currents from the fan, to oscillate on an arc described around the pivot of the base, while it may also oscillate on the pivot of the support beneath it.

The invention also contemplates the novel details of improvement that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation of an electric fan provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view, on the line 2 2 in Fig. 3, of the parts that permit the fan to oscillate, showing the parts in the central position. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrows in Fig. .2. Fig. 5 is a plan view substantially similar to Fig. 2, but showing the movable parts swung to a different position. Fig. 6 is a detail side view showing some of the parts swung to a different position from that shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing a movable stop for the fan. Fig. 8 is an inverted plan view of the member 4 and said stop, and Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 9 in Fig. 8.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

' In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 indicates generally an electric fan, which may be of any suitable or well-known construction, and said fan is mounted upon my improved devices. Said devices, as

shown in the drawings, are arranged as follows: 2 indicates a suitable base or frame, which may have feet 2 at the corners, and upon said base is pivoted, as at 3, a horizontally-disposed member 4, which is provided with a pivot 5, extending upwardly and located at one side of or eccentric to the pivot 3, and to the pivot 5 is connected a support 6, to which the base 1 of fan 1 is connected. I have shown for convenience of attachment a plate or board 7, secured upon support 6 and upon which the fan rests, said fan being secured thereto, as by screws or otherwise. The vertical axis of fan 1 is substantially alined with the vertical axis of pivot 5, so that the fan may oscillate on its vertical axis substantially concentric with the axis of pivot 5.

With the construction above described it will be apparent that the fan 1, following the pivot 5 as the member 4 swings back and forth, may thus be oscillated bodily in an are described around the axis of pivot 3, while v the fan can also oscillate on its own vertical axis. The effect of such oscillations of the fan is to cause the air-currents from the fan to be projected in different directions and to sweep back and forth.

Stops or abutments are provided to cause the fan to assume the different required posi tions as follows: Upon the base 1 at opposite sides of its pivot 3 are located stops S, which are adapted to be engaged by a finger or abutment 9, either rigidly or movably carried by the member 4, so that as said member oscillates from side to side its movements will be limited when the abutment 9 engages a stop 8. (See Figs. 5 and 6.) The stops 8 are preferably made adjustable in an are described around the pivot 3, and for this pur pose the base 2 is shown provided with slots 2 to receive said stops, and the latter may be clamped in the desired positions of adj ustment by nuts or other suitable means 8 The stops 8 may be in the form of studs or the like having rubber covering to deaden noise. the pivot 5 and between the stops 8 is provided with stops 10, which are located on opposite sides of the finger or abutment 9 and are adapted to engage a buffer or the like 11, carried by the member 4 and shown extended outwardly beyond the finger or abutment 9. (See Fig. 5.) The bufier 11 may be pro- The support 6 on opposite sides of IOC vided with rubber or other deadening material to reduce noise. The stops 10 are preferably adjustable in an are described around the pivot 5, for which purpose the support 6 is shown provided with curved slots 10*, which receive said stops. Said stops 10 may be held in their positions of adjustment by nuts 10 or other suiable means. By adjusting the stops 8 more or less toward or from each other the range of oscillatory movement of the member 4 on its pivot or axis may be regulated and by adjusting the stops 10 more or less toward or from each other the amount of rotation or oscillation of the fan upon its vertical axis may be regulated independently of its bodily oscillations with relation to the pivot 3 To reduce the friction between the member 4 and the parts 2 and 6, suitable ball-bearings may be provided, as indicated in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 1 to 6 the parts 9 and 11 are indicated as integral or rigid with the member 4; but in order to resist the tendency of the fan to rebound when it reaches the end of a pivotally secured on the under side of mem-' ber 4, as by a screw 13, the finger or abut ment 9 and the bufier 11 being carried by said arm. For convenience of manufacture I have shown the parts 9 and 11 struck up from the material of arm 12. At 14 is indicated a spring interposed between the screw 13 and arm 12 to create friction on the latter, so that it will remain in the different positions to which it may be moved. The oscillations or swinging movements of arm 12 are limited, as by an abutment 15 on member 4, to be engaged by lugs or extensions 12 on arm 12, located on opposite sides of pivot or screw 13. ment when the member 4 swings toward stop 8 the abutment 9 of arm 12 will engage said stop and said arm will be caused to swing toward the adjacent stop 10, so that when the latter next engages bufier 11 arm 12 will frictionally resist said stop, and thereby the axial rotation of the fan will be stopped; but the tendency of the fan to rebound will be checked. The momentum of the fan, however, will move the arm 12 until a lug 12 en gages stop '15, during which time the fric tional resistance of arm 12 will resist the rebound of the fan, and so on continuously as the fan and member 4 oscillate back and forth. The difierent positions of arm 12 are indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 8.

The operation of my improvements may be described as follows: The fan 1 is so placed upon its support 6 that when the parts 4 and 6 are in the positions shown in Fig. 2 the fan will face and direct its air-currents directly (See Fig. 8..) With this arrange to the left in said figure, the horizontal axis of the fan therefore being parallel with a line passing through the pivots 3 5 when the latter are in the position shown in Fig. 2. The electric current being turned on to operate the fan, as by the switch 1 Fig. 1, and the member 6 being turned on its pivot or axis 5say to the left in Fig. 2until stop 10 (shown above buffer 11) engages the latter, the back pressure of the air-currents from the fan will tend-to cause the fan to move backward bodily, and thereupon the member 4 will be caused to turn on its pivot 3 in the direc tion of the arrow a in Fig. 2. When the finger or abutment 9 engages the stop 8jas indicated in Fig. 5, the member 4 will come to rest (the fan being carried along bodily with the said member) and the stoppage of said member will cause said fan to turn on its vertical axis on the pivot 5 until the stop 10 at the left engages the buffer 11, as indicated in Fig. 5, and when the arm 12 is used its spring 14 will check the rebound of the fan. The direction of the horizontal axis of the shaft 1 of the fan will now be substantially that indicated by the dotted line b in Fig. 5, which is consequently at an angle to a line passing through the pivots 3 and 5. The back pressure of the air-currents from the fan-blades will next cause the member 4 to swing to the left in Fig. 5 carrying the fan around bodily until the finger or abutment 9 engages the stop 8, (shown at the bottom in Fig. 5,) (see also Fig. 6,) whereupon the stoppage-of member 4 will again cause the support 6 and the fan to turn on their vertical axes to the left in Fig. 5 until the stop 10 (shown at the right in Fig. 5) next engages the buffer 11, (see Fig. 6,) arm 12 when used acting as before stated. The horizontal shaft 1 of the fan-blades will thus be swung at an angle to the line b and to a line passing through the pivots 3 and 5, and thus with relation to the last-named line, substantially as indicated by the dotted line 0 in Fig. 5. The back pressure of the air from the fan-blades will then again cause the member 4 to swing to the right in Fig. 5, as before described, and so on continuously from right to left and back again. The amount of oscillation of the fan on its vertical axis is regulated by the position of the stops 10, and by altering the distance between said stops the angles of the imaginary lines I) c with respect to the line passing through the pivots 3 5 may be more or less, for the greater such angles the more powerful will be the swinging action of the fan, and vice versa. When the fan is to oscillate quickly, such angles above described should be increased, and when the fan is to oscillate more slowly such angles should be decreased. From the, foregoing it will be apparent that when the fan oscillates as described the aircurrents projected therefrom will sweep from side to side, and the greater such sweep of the currents desired the farther apart should the stops 8 be adjusted, and vice versa.

It will be apparent that in the form of my invention set forth herein the support 6 constitutes a convenient medium for pivotal connection between the fan and the oscillatory member 4, the gist of my invention residing in so pivotally supporting the fan that the back pressure of the air-currents from the fan-blades will cause the fan to oscillate or swing back and forth. Itherefore do not limit my invention to the details of construction and arrangements shown and described, as they may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. A device of the character described comprising a movable member, afan and its motor pivotally connected therewith at one side of the axis of said member, and stops to cause said member and fan to oscillate, substantially as described.

2. A device of the character described comprising a pivoted member, means to control its swinging movements, and a fan and its motor pivotally connected with said member at one side of the pivot of the latter, whereby the stoppage of said member will cause said fan and motor to swing on its pivot, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a base, a member pivotally connected therewith, a fan and its motor pivotally connected with said member at a point eccentric to the pivot of the member, and stops to cause said member to swing on its pivot, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the character described the combination of a base, a member pivotally carried thereby, stops to limit the oscillations of said member, a fan and its motor pivotally carried by said member at a point eccentric to the pivot of the latter, and stops to cause said fan and motor to oscillate, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a base, a member pivotally connected therewith, stops connected. with said base on opposite sides of said pivot to limit the oscillations of said member, a support for a fan and motor pivotally carried by said member at a point eccentric to the pivot thereof, and stops to control the oscillations of said support, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a base, a member pivotally carried thereby, stops adjustably I carried by said base to be engaged by an abutment on said member, a support for a fan and its motor pivotally carried by said member at a point eccentric to the pivot of the latter, stops adjustably connected with said support, and a buffer or abutment on said member to coact with said stops, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the character described the combination of a base and a fan and its motor, with a pair of pivots interposed be tween said base and motor, means for connecting the fan and motor with one of said pivots, said pivots being disposed eccentrically to each other whereby the fan and motor may oscillate on its vertical axis with relation to one pivot and may oscillate bodily on an are described around the other pivot, and

stops for causing such movements of the fan to occur, substantially as described.

8. An electric fan and its motor provided with supporting devices comprising an oscillatorymember pivotally supported, a pivotal support alined. with the vertical axis of the fan and mounted on said member eccentrically of the axis of the latter, and stops to coact with said member and pivotal support, whereby the fan and motor will be caused to oscillate or move from side to side through the medium of the back pressure of the air currents propelled from the fan, substantially as described. 7

9. Adevice of the character described comprising a movable member, a fan-support pivotally connected therewith, an arm pivotally connected with said member, means to re tard the movements of said arm, and stops connected with said fan to be stopped by said arm, substantially as described.

10. A device of the character described comprising a base, a member pivotally connected with said base, stops connected with the latter, an arm pivotally connected with said member, means to retard the movements of said arm, a fan-support pivotally connected with said member, and stops connected with said fan to encounter said arm to cause the fan to swing on its axis, substantially as described.

11. In a fan for agitating the air, a movable member and a fan and its motor pivotally connected therewith at one side of the movable support of said member, whereby the resistance of the outside air to the fan caused by the current produced by the fanvanes will be in a line to one side of the connection of said member with its base, and cause said member, fan-support and fan to turn.

12. In a device of the character described the combination of two parallel pivots, one hinged upon the other, a motor and its fan supported to oscillate as a unit on one of said pivots, and means for limiting the extent of angular movement of each pivot.

13. An oscillating device for a motor-driven fan consisting of the combination of a hinged or pivoted support in two parts or sections, one of which is connected to the other by a hinge or pivot, a motor and fan located upon one section, and means for automatically limiting the extent of the movement of each part or section.

14. An oscillating device for a motor-driven fan consisting of a support in two sections, a ball-bearing pivot for the first section, a ballbearing pivot for the second section parallel to the pivot for the first section, a motor and fan located on the second section and means for limiting the extent of the movement of each section.

15. A device of the character described, comprising a member mounted for movement in a horizontal plane, a fan and motor connected With said member and capable of movement in a horizontal plane in common With said member under actuation of the air proceeding from the fan and also capable of movement relatively to said member, and means for causing the relative movement of said movably-mounted member and said fan and fan-carrier to vary the direction of the said common movement of the same.

GUSTAV SITTMANN. Witnesses:

WALTER H. PITT, HENRY M. WELLS. 

